8th Sunday of Ordinary Time-Cycle A — 2017
FIRST READING Isaiah 49:14-15
Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.” Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.
SECOND READING 1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Brothers and sisters: Thus should one regard us: as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Now it is of course required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. It does not concern me in the least that I be judged by you or any human tribunal; I do not even pass judgment on myself; I am not conscious of anything against me, but I do not thereby stand acquitted; the one who judges me is the Lord. Therefore do not make any judgment before the appointed time, until the Lord comes, for he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will manifest the motives of our hearts, and then everyone will receive praise from God.
GOSPEL Matthew 6:24-34
Jesus said to his disciples: “No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’ All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.”
My sisters and brothers in Christ,
God loves us! This is not easy for many of us to accept. We modify this statement in our minds and in our actions so something like this: God loves us if we are good. The readings today are a teaching about the unqualified and unconditional love that God has for us, always and in every circumstance, when we do good and when we do evil. God loves us!
The first reading today, from the Prophet Isaiah, is so short and focuses directly on God’s love for us. Zion is the symbol of God’s Chosen People and complains: God has forsaken me, God has forgotten me! God replies this way: Even should a mother forget her child, I will never forget you!
That is a really strong statement. Yes, of course, there are mothers who forget their children and mothers who even damage their children. But the image given to us is of a good mother, who lives her children even when the children are not so good. And God is even more than that. Even if we turn against God, God will never turn against us. God loves us without conditions.
The second reading is from the First Letter to the Corinthians. The point of the reading today seems to be that we should not judge others or even judge ourselves. Only God really knows what is within us. We ourselves don’t always know what is within us. We can only keep on trying to do the will of the Lord. No matter how often we may fail or even reject God, we should not judge but should seek to be converted and to live, without trying to figure out everything. We live the mystery of God’s love for us by seeking to respond to that love, no matter we may fail.
The Gospel today, from Saint Matthew, tell us again: don’t worry about your life. God will provide for you.
Probably we don’t experience life that way! We hear people say: I have to take of myself because God never gives me what I need! We can recognize some truth in that, but the truth is only that we don’t see God providing for us and look at our lives as something that we must accomplish, with or without God. We are invited to change our way of looking at life and to recognize that God wants us to live in His love and that He always provides all that we need. If we look at our lives as simply a gift of God that we give back to God, then life can be experiences in the way of the Gospel. Far too often, however, we look at life as something for our pleasure, something that is supposed to bring us pleasures and goods and happiness, etc. This changes life from a gift of God to something that I must take up on my own to get all that I want.
So today, my sisters and brothers, we are invited to refocus our lives. Life is a gift and each of us is a particular mystery God has created for His glory. If we can find a way to live in that love, by following the Word of the Lord, then our lives become peaceful and filled with meaning. We won’t have all that we want in terms of physical goods and money and pleasure. But we will have God now and forever. Amen.
Your brother in the Lord,
Abbot Philip